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Wind River High School senior Tyson Lone Bear, front left, signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Central Wyoming College on Thursday at Wind River High School. His mother, Lynnette Bell, watched her son sign. In the back row, from left, Darrell Lone Bear Sr., father, and Kole Lone Bear, brother. Photo by Bruce Tippets

Lone Bear, like his dad, commits to play basketball at CWC

Apr 15, 2012 - By Bruce Tippets, Sports Editor

PAVILLION -- Tyson Lone Bear is following in his father's footsteps.

The Wind River senior and son of Darrell Lone Bear Sr. made things official Thursday after he signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for the 2012-13 season at Central Wyoming College.

"My father motivates me a lot," Lone Bear said. "He is at every one of my games. He is there for me anytime that I need him. He tells me to never give up."

Tyson Lone Bear stands at 6 feet 2 inches and weighs 175 pounds. He will be playing for coach Curtis Condie while at CWC.

"I have to be committed every day," Lone Bear said. "I will need to listen to coach Condie and bulk up some more."

Condie likes that Lone Bear's father played at CWC.

"Hopefully, we will have more of those," Condie said.

"It's an honor and privilege to see the coach come out to Wind River and recognize the talent and the skill level that Tyson displays," Darrell Lone Bear Sr said. "It makes us feel proud."

The father said he knows his son needs to continue to work on his game.

"The advice that I would give Tyson is to work hard and do what the coaching staff tells him to do," Lone Bear Sr. said. "He needs to get on a weight program and gain a little weight. Tyson has a good shot. Tyson needs to get tougher on defense and rebounding."

Lone Bear and his Wind River basketball teammates drew big crowds during the regional and state tournament games.

"A lot of the kids come up and give Tyson high fives. He has followers," Lone Bear Sr. said. "He is a good role model for the reservation kids."

Condie on Lone Bear

"I'm very happy that Tyson signed," Condie said. "I watched a lot of games that Tyson played, and I felt for our program and the way that I am as a coach, Tyson was the best player to get from the Wyoming area."

Lone Bear was an all-state player, helping the Cougars to a third-place finish at the state tournament in Casper.

"Our program is all about rebounding, defending and taking care of the ball," Condie said. "I saw Tyson play against good teams and not-so-good teams. He defended every night."

Condie knows it's important to have Wyoming players suit up for CWC.

"We have to find Wyoming kids that want to play at CWC," Condie said.

Great season

Lone Bear was one of the top players in the state in Class 2-A. Lone Bear was second in scoring from the Southwest with 20.1 points per game.

Lone Bear's teammates Roger Wagon (17.3 points per game) and Jesse Brown (15.7) were next on the list.

"It was a successful season," Lone Bear said. "I had a lot of help from Jesse and Roger Wagon."

Lone Bear said he knows that without Wagon and Brown, he wouldn't be heading to CWC.